Unclaimed funds can lead to pleasant surprise

Before this month, Kristine Gore had never heard of the Cash Dash program. Now she stands to reclaim more than $5,000 in assets she forgot about years ago.

Sarah Roberts

Before this month, Kristine Gore had never heard of the Cash Dash program. Now she stands to reclaim more than $5,000 in assets she forgot about years ago.

Gore’s name appeared in the Rockford Register Star earlier this month, along with her daughter Anne Elizabeth, as one of the top dozen state residents who have unclaimed property sitting with the treasurer’s office. A couple of friends saw Gore’s name in the paper and called her; now she’s filling out the paperwork needed to reclaim the money.

The best Gore can figure, the money is from an old bank account that she opened with her daughter, now grown and living in Wisconsin, while her daughter was still a minor.

“I really had not heard of (the Cash Dash program) before now,” said Gore, who moved to Chattanooga, Tenn., last year after spending more than 50 years in Rockford. “But it’s nice to find out about it. This can easily happen if you have a bank that closes or you just forget about something and lose track of it.”

More than 55,000 people and businesses have had cash or other assets turned over to the state since August 2007, bringing the total number of claimants to more than 10 million. The average claim is around $100, treasurer spokeswoman Kati Phillips said, but “we do have thousands of people who are owed thousands of dollars.”

The treasurer’s office took the Cash Dash program over from the Department of Financial Institutions in 1999 and has since returned more than $400 million to residents. The program has 50 full-time staffers and an approximate operating budget of $8.3 million. In fiscal year 2007, the state returned a record $92 million to 77,000 claimants.

About 31,000 of those claims came via the online Cash Dash form; an additional 13,000 people saw their names on a list that the treasurer’s office publishes in newspapers twice a year.

Darlene Anderson of Rockford regularly scans those lists, but she’s never seen her name — until now. A friend saw Anderson’s sister’s name listed earlier this month and called her. The sister also did a quick search for Anderson, and her name popped up.

“She said, ‘Darlene, you’re on there, too,’” said Anderson, whose unclaimed amount is listed as more than $100. “It could be anything, huh? I’m kind of excited to see what it is.”

Most of the unclaimed property comes from such things as paid life insurance policies, stocks and bonds, bill overpayments, safe deposit boxes, and inactive savings and checking accounts. After five years, financial institutions can turn the property over to the treasurer’s office, which then adds names, last known addresses and general dollar amounts to its massive database and begins trying to pair the assets with their rightful owners.

The state never takes ownership of unclaimed property, but it does auction off certain items. Each year, the treasurer’s office receives the contents of safe deposit boxes that have been abandoned for five years and publishes the names of the owners. If no one claims the contents, the state sells the items — mostly jewelry, coins, stamps and other collectibles — on eBay and holds the auction proceeds for the owner.

Sometimes, the contents aren’t auctionable. In 2005, the treasurer’s office received a safe deposit box containing a woman’s ashes. The office was able to locate the woman’s daughter and return the ashes, but “we didn’t want to be in the business of handling remains again,” Phillips said. Illinois amended its unclaimed property statute shortly thereafter, authorizing the state in those instances to turn remains over to county coroners.

The treasurer’s office also works with Illinois State Police in cases where firearms are found in safe deposit boxes to determine whether a weapon was stolen or used in a crime.

Most often, though, the claims involve cash. While some residents are owed more than $50,000, there are numerous people who have less than $5 in unclaimed assets. The treasurer’s office keeps a minimum of $2.5 million in the account from which it pays out claims, Phillips said. Some excess money is transferred to the state pension fund; in fiscal year 2007, the amount was $333 million.

“No one ever loses money; they can file for it at any time,” Phillips said. “But we do realize that some folks, because the amount they’re owed is so small, will never file. In those cases, we put the money to good use.”

Those who do file claims find the process relatively simple, Phillips said. Claimants need to mail a written inquiry to the treasurer’s office and include their current and past names and addresses and Social Security number.

Gore is in the process of retrieving documentation of previous addresses and said the form is “very clear.” Anderson mailed her form to Springfield on Tuesday, and she’s taking a copy of the paper in to work so her co-workers can search for their names.

“We have people tell us all the time that’s how they found their names. What’s a more neighborly thing to do?” Phillips said. “It can really pay off.”

Sarah Roberts can be reached at 815-987-1354 or smrobert@rrstar.com.

Cash Dash search
To see if you stand to reclaim property or cash, you can search the state’s database at treasurer.il.gov. Click on the “Cash Dash” link and type in your name.

The state also publishes lists of owners of unclaimed property in newspapers in February and August and sponsors various educational programs throughout the year.

If you find your name listed, you must mail a written inquiry to the treasurer’s office. The inquiry should include a current name and address, previous names, past addresses, and Social Security number. If you are the heir to unclaimed property, you must provide your relationship to the original owner. Claims cannot be approved without Social Security numbers.